That’s a lot of dough.
And that’s also a great content marketing opportunity for businesses, so why not tap into it by making some Halloween content?
I know, I know. You’re going to say: My business hasn’t really got that much to do with Halloween, or costumes, or sweets… or it’s just not scary at all.
But I’m here to tell you, where there’s a will there’s a way! And there’s always a will.
When you’ve been working with a marketing automation platform for a while you begin to notice a few things: Sometimes they’re good, sometimes… not so good.
Good marketing automation is all about timing and content.
It’s when an email is just there waiting in my inbox first thing in the morning, or when social media schedules have been worked on tirelessly to reach me just when I’m on my boring commute home.
It’s when blog posts have been scheduled to hit my screen just as I head on my lunch break, or when that reminder email from that abandoned shopping cart pokes its way into my email box to tempt me just as I unwind in front of the TV.
Marketing automation works best when it’s non-intrusive, informative (because you’ve paid attention to my browsing and know that the content is exactly what I am interested in) and I don’t feel any overt pressure or push to get me to the buying stage (just a little nudge).
I know how many hours, days, week and even months those marketers work so that they seem so effortless, and I appreciate it. I like those brands, because they are approachable, not pushy, but still they remain in the forefront of my mind. It’s a balancing act, and a difficult one at that.
But then, there’s the dark side of marketing automation…
I confess: I’m one of those people who loves anything to do with puppies and kittens. My current obsession is with pugs. People share them on my page, I pin them on Pinterest, I’ve even – I kid you not – searched the term “cute pugs” on YouTube.
Just to watch them.
But it’s actually not that unusual, as is evident from the hundreds of videos that were returned by my “cute pugs” query.
Yes, we’re all a little puppy mad. Or bunny mad. Or cat crazy. Or… Ok, just generally cute crazy.
And as soon as one of these funny lil guys pops up we’re quick to share it on social media, with little or no hesitation.
It’s a marketers dream.
When it comes to marketing, it’s easy to solely focus on the more technical aspects of the business, such as blogging strategies, SEO, content marketing, click-bait titles and social media distribution.
But what happens is that we then forget the basics.
And I’m not just talking about the basics of marketing, SEO, title creation etc. We have more than our fair share of “Content Marketing for Dummies” posts going around the web that are sure to last us a lifetime.
What I’m talking about is the basics of communication itself.
How we express ourselves is really important in every aspect of life. From first impressions in an interview, to talking with lifelong friends, communication is central to making these relationships successful and meaningful.
But even if you’ve got the fine art of verbal communication down, let me ask you this: How are your writing skills?
Have you ever thought about whether people consider whether you’re male or female as they’re reading your blogs? Or if people can guess your gender without reading your byline?
Have you ever wondered if it actually matters?
Recently a friend of mine sent me a link to a analyzer called the “Gender Guesser”.
The idea is that you copy and paste a sample of your writing into the analyzer (about 300 words), and it guesses your gender just by your writing style!
Well, to be more specific: Millennials trust user-generated content (UGC) more than they do professionally-written content.
UGC refers to anything created by a non-professional, and for millennials it’s often peer-driven content, such as status updates, Yelp reviews, Facebook posts, tweets, blogs, videos… oh and anything on Reddit’s Front Page.
All of which are, of course, created by individuals without any monetary motivation.
And therein lies the key: Money.
Millennials read your content in full-awareness that it may be biased because it was written for the author’s personal monetary gain.
And this reduces the amount of trust they have in what you’re saying.
In fact, millennials are less trusting of others than older Americans are, with just 19% of Millennials saying most people can be trusted, compared with 31% of Gen Xers, 37% of Silents and 40% of Boomers.
And here’s the real kicker:
Every time that I’ve commented to friends and colleagues that I think Google+ is better than Facebook for small businesses, I’m met with incredulous glances.
“Better than Facebook??? Sarah, you cray cray.”
But I stand by it.
I think Google+ is better than Facebook for small businesses. Actually, I think it’s even going to be bigger than Facebook in a year or so.
And honestly? I’m surprised that it’s taking this long to catch on.
Let me tell you why.
I came up with the idea to challenge myself to come up with 100 blog post ideas in 30 minutes after I misunderstood the title a post I stumbled across called: How to Come Up With 100 Blog Post Ideas in 30 Minutes.
I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I clicked in to that post thinking that they would show me how they had come up with 100 ideas in 30 minutes.
Instead, it was a video showing me the tools that he used (for 30 minutes, I assume) that he claimed help him generate “about” 100 ideas.
I have to admit, this was one of those moments when a clickbaity headline really let me down.
I was looking for some documentation, for some guidance as to how he had created so many post ideas so quickly, and instead was given a vague idea on someone’s creative process.
I was seriously disappointed.
But, where there is disappointment, there is opportunity, right?
I realized that if I were so excited to see something like that, why wouldn’t others be too?
Why can’t I try to create that many ideas, in that time constraint, while also documenting the process and showing everyone the results?
Here’s what happened when I challenged myself to create 100 blog post ideas in 30 minutes.
Marketing automation is a fantastic way to ensure that you’re sharing consistent, relevant and valuable information with your customers, both new and potential.
It streamlines a repetitive process so that you don’t waste your time.
Automation itself isn’t a particularly new idea.
We’ve been doing it for a while in the form of “lifehacks” or “shortcuts” in our daily routines.
Our parents taught us some of them: Setting your alarm so that it goes off at the right time every morning (but only during weekdays), for example.
And as we got older (and technology got better) we began to automate other things too.
Quotes are a fantastic way to inspire you to work to the best of your ability, even when you’re not feeling the most optimistic.
We’ve all been there – You’ve put an enormous amount of work in, you think your idea is fantastic, you’ve tried to rally people to your way of thinking – but things just aren’t going the way you thought they would.
Suddenly, you experience what seems like a grey cloud hovering over your head, dampening your thoughts and spirits and making every movement, every thought seem worthless.
Very quickly, you can be drawn into the self-indulgent self-pity that is common in the aftermath of defeat, dejection, wariness or whatever other dark cloud has been hanging over your head.
But here’s the thing: You’re better than that, and deep down inside: You know it too.
Quotes are a fantastic way to rekindle the light inside of you. They act as a pin, bursting through the cloud to allow the light to shine down on you once more.
I have a tendency to collect quotes, keeping them for days when the sun isn’t shining quite so bright. Here are some of my favourite quotes that I think will inspire and revitalize you and your business, followed by an aside by yours truly.
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